By the River
by Lelu
Summary: Usagi is tired of being the object of Mamoru's (negative) affection. When she runs away from his teases, he follows her and tells her something that she doens't know how to feel about.


4/30/01  
  
By the River  
By: Lelu  
PG  
E-mail: leluh16@yahoo.com  
  
[Insert Standard Disclaimer]  
  
Thank you to everyone who beta-ed this for me!  
  
  
**  
  
Holding you close to me,  
It is then I realize  
How much your warmth  
Means to me. *  
  
  
Sighing, Usagi placed her head on the cool window,   
staring out the window. Glancing down briefly at the   
notebook she held in her hands, she thought to   
herself, 'I can't stand researching for these haikus.   
What good do they have for me? After all, these   
writers are all deceased…why is everyone so   
obsessed with reviving the dead's work?' Her   
thoughts were immediately halted as a familiar   
mocking tone reached her ears.  
  
"Do my eyes deceive me? Could that possible be   
Tsukino Usagi in the library, on a Saturday?"  
  
Heart pounding, mouth drying, she turned slowly,   
and met the cool blue eyes of one Chiba Mamoru.   
Oh, how her heart ached at the sight of his   
impeccable dress. He was dressed in a black tuxedo   
that emphasized his broad shoulders [and the   
shininess of his polished black dress shoes. She   
wondered where she could get such nice shoes in a   
more feminine style.—MM put that in there… I   
found it funny, so I let it be…^^;;] Sighing, she   
braced herself for the barrage of insults that she knew   
would come, as soon as she opened her mouth. 'Well,   
might as well get the game started', she thought.   
Snapping back, she said, "Unless you're blind, you   
baka, it is me in a library! Why is that so hard to   
believe?"  
  
"Hmm…of course it was you, Usagi. I mean, who   
else has those odangos on top of their head?" he   
answered, his voice as smooth as silk.  
  
Usagi glared at him, wishing that there were a knife   
handy to throw into his hard chest. 'Why does he   
always have to insult my hair?' she thought, idly   
twisting a golden strand around her fingers. 'What's   
so disturbing about it?' Out loud, she replied, "And   
what are you doing, Mamoru, dressed in broad   
daylight in a tuxedo?" Flipping her hair, she added   
sarcastically, "Got a hot date or something?"  
  
Smirking, he replied, "Why, are you jealous, Miss   
Cow-tails??"  
  
Her heart gave a violent wrench, noting with irony   
how true his statement was. She would be jealous if   
he really were going out with another woman. As   
strange as it sounded, Usagi was head-over-heels in   
love with this rude, older sempai. It was crazy, she   
knew, pure craziness! After all, how could she have   
fallen in love with such a man?  
  
"Hey, are you deaf, too?"  
  
Point taken- again she questioned herself, 'Why me?'   
But already, she knew the answer. She had fallen in   
love with him because she had seen the nice side of   
him, the compassionate side of Mamoru that did   
come out when he thought that no one was watching.   
But she was always watching him- sweatdropping,   
she hastily told herself that she hadn't been watching   
him in a stalker-type way. She couldn't help that   
every time he entered a room, her eyes were   
automatically drawn to him. She couldn't help that   
every time he made some small gesture, she could   
notice it immediately. She couldn't help it that every   
time she saw him smile so charmingly to another girl   
that she felt like crying. She couldn't help that she felt   
the way that she did for him. After many excruciating   
nights of wondering just exactly what she did feel for   
him, she had decided that there was just one answer:  
  
"Darnit, Usagi, pay attention to me!"  
  
She was in love with the idiot. 'Eesh, what a   
depressing thought.' Suddenly, she felt herself being   
shook. "Nani?!" she snapped at him, forgetting that   
she was in the library.  
  
"Ssssh!" he replied, placing his finger over her lips   
for emphasis.   
  
Shocked, her eyes grew large, her blue eyes turning   
transparent. Her senses faded away, until the only   
thing she could feel was his finger pressing against   
her lips. 'What a warm sensation', she thought. 'How   
could it come from just a simple touch?' But then   
again, he just wasn't anything simple. He was   
Mamoru, her Mamo-chan.   
  
Mamoru watched, amazed, as she responded so   
tenderly to his action. Her lips were so soft under his   
finger, and he wished that it just wasn't his finger that   
had been pushed against her mouth. 'I wonder how it   
would feel to…to have her kiss me…' Abruptly, he   
stopped his train of thought. 'Iie,' he thought. 'Don't   
wish for the impossible.' Slowly, he removed his   
finger- he noticed his whole hand was shaking- and   
brought it down to his side. "You…you shouldn't talk   
loudly in the library, Odango," he said. "It could get   
you in trouble."  
  
"…Trouble…" she echoed, not really hearing him,   
only wishing for more of his warmth.   
  
"Hey, Usagi, wake-up…It's not fun when you don't   
pay attention to me."  
  
At his command, she looked up at him, blue eyes   
slightly glazed over with happiness. "Hai, Mamoru-  
baka?"  
  
Mamoru glared down at her, inwardly recoiling by   
the look in her eyes. He knew that look; it was the   
look he so often got whenever he thought of Usagi.   
Shock penetrated his numb brain: Usagi was in love.  
  
'But she couldn't be,' some part of him protested.   
'She has to love me!' But he couldn't deny what he   
had seen in those crystalline eyes of hers. Her eyes   
were so easy to read. He wanted to shake his head in   
denial, but knew he couldn't. 'I finally realized   
exactly what she means to me, and now I see this…'   
He braced himself, and mentally built up his walls   
again. This could not happen. He would take down   
Usagi for doing this to him…and he would find out   
exactly who was the man who had captured her   
fancy.  
  
"Usagi," he said, straightening his suit jacket, "why   
*are* you in the library? Such an empty-headed girl   
doesn't belong in this type of place." When she   
didn't respond, it made him angrier, and he   
continued, not even thinking about what he was   
saying. He focused his anger on his words. "You   
shouldn't even be here! Only some-what intelligent   
people should be allowed on here, and you…" he   
gave her a withering glare. "…you come no where   
near that list. And furthermore-"  
  
A tiny pair of hands, clenched into fists, slammed   
onto the table. "Enough!" Usagi shouted, gathering   
everyone's attention. "I've heard enough!" She stared   
rebelliously at Mamoru, eyes shimmering with tears.   
"You don't think I know that?" she yelled back at   
him, ignoring the whispered, 'ssssh's,' around them.   
" Do you think that I actually *want* to be here? To   
waste a beautiful day like this?" she gestured wildly   
toward the window, where the sun shone down about   
the ground, kissing it with its sunlight.   
  
He gazed at her mindlessly, all his anger forgotten   
when he saw her blue eyes flashing dangerously at   
him.  
  
"What is wrong with you, Mamoru?!" Usagi was   
steamed, incensed, angered…just about any word   
could describe her at that moment, including   
lovesick, which made her *truly* sick to her   
stomach. "You yelled at me when I don't pay   
attention to you and then you yelled at me when I   
did! And now, you're making fun of my study   
habits? Again?" She thrust back her chair, stood up,   
and grabbed her books carelessly. "It was ridiculous   
of you to come and pick a fight with me for no   
reason. But to say such things as you did before…"   
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands,   
ashamed to have Mamoru see her like this, "that was   
just unacceptable." She marched around him, her   
white dress flaring to mid-thigh. "I suggest, Mamoru-  
san," Usagi coldly said, "that you do not speak to   
me…unless it is an apology." With that, she walked   
out of the room and out of the library, leaving   
Mamoru to the uncomfortable stares from the   
witnesses of the fight.  
  
She ran past so many things…stores, people,   
signs…they were all a blur to her. Her feet pounded   
on the pavement, his words echoing over and over in   
her head. Still angry, she thought, 'How *dare* he   
have said those things to me! Why…I…I…I should   
have…'   
  
'Should have what, Usagi?' came a little voice in the   
corner of her mind. 'Should have thrown yourself at   
him and kissed him passionately and forgiven him for   
everything that he had said?'  
  
'No way!' she argued. 'Never!' But a pang of   
longing came over her and she stopped running,   
blinking. She looked around and realized where she   
had ran to…  
  
She had run to her secret little place; the place where   
she came every time she needed to think. She looked   
at the river…The surface of the water sparkled from   
the sun, clean and unpolluted. Sitting down on the   
ground, she removed her socks and shoes, dipping   
her feet into the water. Tipping her head back and   
shutting her eyes, she leaned back on her arms and let   
the sun shine upon her face, warming her soul to no   
end.   
  
His eyes devoured her body; her neck was so slender,   
her face blissfully pure of any and all emotions.   
Golden hair trailed down by the side of her body,   
pooling on the ground. Usagi was so beautiful, how   
could he have missed it before? Mamoru's heart   
tightened in his chest, realizing, again, that he had   
fallen in love with her.  
  
A slight breeze went through the air. 'It's getting   
chilly,' she thought. Opening her eyes, she spied a   
large rock on the bank to her left. She stood up and   
walked over to it, barefoot, and sat down, basking in   
the sun. it. The water wet up to her calves now. It was   
too cold, she decided, and drew her legs up   
underneath her, crouching on the rock in a precarious   
position.   
  
And then she heard a twig crack.  
  
She spun around quickly…which proved to be a bad   
move. Headfirst into the water she went, white dress   
flailing around her in all its glory.   
  
Mamoru's eyes widened. 'Oops,' he thought, looking   
down at his foot, where, indeed, the twig was under   
the sole of his shoe. 'My mistake.'  
  
Usagi emerged out of the river, the white dress stuck   
to her skin, emphasizing every curve of her young   
body. Scowling furiously at herself, she looked   
down.  
  
And blushed.   
  
'My dress! Oh god…why did I have to wear white?'   
But then she remembered the reason for her accident.   
Immediately alert, she scanned the area around her. It   
seemed like there was nothing there, but she knew   
she had heard something.... And then she saw *him*,   
her jaw dropping. The man who made her heart   
pound furiously every time she saw him; the man   
who could infuriate her yet make her so wonderfully   
happy…   
  
Mamoru had followed her here.   
  
Finally finding her voice, she called to him,   
"Mamoru…how did you find me?" But the distance   
between them was too far apart, and he couldn't hear   
her. He emerged out of the bushes, brushing the twigs   
off of his tuxedo, and walked towards her  
  
"Ano…Mamoru-san…" Usagi really didn't know   
what to say to him, now that he was less than 3 feet   
away from her. It was the most bizarre situation she   
could think of. They had fought, as usual, and had   
both said things they didn't mean—it was what   
always happened. "I don't even know what to   
think…And *don't* say whatever it is you were   
planning on saying!" She had caught the twinkle in   
his eyes when she had made the remark of not being   
able to think.  
  
Grinning, he replied, "I wouldn't never, Usagi."  
  
Arching an eyebrow, eyes doubtful, she shot back,   
"You have many times before." When he threw her a   
sardonic look, she added, "As I have, too…But you   
don't have to be so mean about it!"  
  
"Gomen nasai."  
  
She blinked at him, disbelieving the words that had   
just come from his mouth. "Excuse me?"  
  
Pained, he glared at her. "Go*men*, na*sai*," he   
repeated, stressing the syllables of each word. When   
she continued to stare at him, fascinated, he said   
sarcastically, "Do you need me to repeat that again?"  
  
Usagi stood there for a few minutes, shocked. Then,   
slowly, she reached out and poked him. And poked   
him. And poked him. And…  
  
Mamoru grabbed her hand and held it in his. "Would   
you please stop that?"  
  
"I was just checking to see if you were real. And if   
you are, would you mind telling me what you did   
with Mamoru-baka?" She extricated her hand from   
his- instantly regretting the incredible warmth that he   
had given to her ones- and tapped her foot   
impatiently, crossing her arms over her chest.  
  
Laughing, (he was always so amused by her!), he   
reached over and ruffled her hair affectionately. "I   
am the real 'Mamoru-baka,'…I'm just more…" he   
searched his mind for the word he wanted,   
"…aware."  
  
Usagi's eyes opened to an incredible width when he   
spoke his last word. His voice had gone down to an   
incredibly sexy pitch, and her youthful heart was   
pounding erratically. "Um…" she squeaked, "could   
you please define aware for me?"  
  
Mamoru could feel it- this was his opening line, the   
one he had been waiting for. Gathering his courage,   
he took a few breaths and said, "Usagi, I think…no, I   
*know* I lo-"  
  
She sneezed.  
  
He stared.  
  
Mamoru couldn't believe it. He had waited patiently   
for so long to tell this bunny that he loved her, and   
when he had finally gotten his chance, she had   
sneezed! Sneezed for god's sake! And not only that,   
but…his mental rant trailed off when he noticed that   
her skin was turning a faint shade of blue and that her   
body was trembling…no, she was shivering. "Oh my   
god," he mumbled, reaching his arm out towards her,   
inwardly pleased when she didn't draw back, but   
continued to stare at him with large blue eyes.   
"Usagi, are you all right?"  
  
She sneezed again and brushed her fingers under her   
nose. "H-hai, Ma…Mamoru…" Almost   
instantaneously, she found herself in his warm   
embrace. His arms locked behind her waist, pinning   
her arms against his chest. Her head nearly rolled off   
her shoulders. What was he doing? Was he aware   
that she loved him and just being so nice to torture   
her? This was horrible! Her eyes began to swim with   
tears, and she turned her face to the side so he   
wouldn't notice the shimmering wetness of her eyes.  
  
"Usagi…Usagi-chan, what's wrong?"  
  
She was wrong; he had noticed. She felt his arms   
tighten around her waist again to an almost painful   
hug…but it wasn't. "Mamoru…I…She buried her   
head in his chest and mumbled to herself, "Why are   
you doing this to me?"  
  
He stared down at the woman in his arms. "I didn't   
hear you," he said gently, bringing one hand up to tilt   
her chin back, alert when he noticed her tears. "Could   
you please repeat what you said?"  
  
Her mouth gaped like a fish, and he desperately tried   
to restrain from laughing at her comical expression.   
He took his finger and shut her jaw, tapping her on   
the nose and saying, "You know, you look like a fish   
when you do that."  
  
Usagi scowled at him, but turned her face away   
again. Curiosity, however, made her stare him   
straight on and say, "Ne, Mamoru…what were you   
going to say to me?"  
  
"I…um…I forgot."  
  
His answer had been blurted out so quickly that   
Usagi was nearly positive that he was lying. That and   
because his heartbeat, which she could hear and feel,   
had sped up. Deciding in that split second to risk it   
all, she pulled one of her arms out of his grip and   
began to trace a little circle on his chest. "Care to try   
again?" She grinned devilishly as she felt his back   
straighten.  
  
"Usagi…"   
  
His eyes had faded to a dark blue that reminded her   
of sapphires…an indescribable look masked his   
feelings…but she knew… she knew what he wanted   
to say…  
  
"Hai, Mamoru?"   
  
"Usagi…"  
  
He was so nervous…so incredibly nervous. Just a   
few moments before, he hadn't been…but his chance   
was taken away so quickly that he was almost   
positive that the Fates had made it that way so he   
didn't have to be nervous. But now…she was   
pressuring him with such a look on her   
face…pleading…  
  
Her blue eyes pleading to him to say what she   
thought she already knew…  
  
Beautiful azure eyes…  
  
Mamoru reached out to her…and drowned in his   
emotions…everything spun…the world spun…but   
she was still in his arms…he would hold her   
forever…  
  
"I love you."  
  
His eyes opened wide. She had…  
  
"Mamoru… I love you."  
  
He gaped at her, shocked. Finding his voice, eyes full   
of hope…"Do you really think it's possible, Usagi?"   
he asked. His arms tightened around her petite form,   
crushing her to him, yet the embrace was suprisingly   
tender. "Is it possible that you could really love me?"  
  
Trying to keep from bursting into tears, she answered   
from her heart. "Yes, it's possible, you baka! I already   
do!"  
  
He craned his head down towards her, positioning his   
mouth by her ear, his deep voice sending tremors   
along her spine. "Usagi…I love you, too." He pulled   
back a bit, and focused on the look of her face:  
  
Joy.  
  
He smiled beautifully at her ('There was no other   
way to describe it, she thought), and began to slowly   
move towards the direction of her lips…  
  
But just before his kiss was delivered, she pressed a   
finger on his mouth. He looked down at her curiously   
while she stared up playfully at him.  
  
"What is it, Usagi?"  
  
She pouted and looked away. "You made me fall in   
the river!"  
  
His laughter echoed throughout the clearing, but   
halted when he looked at her again. "Gomen nasai…"   
  
Usagi blushed fiercely as she noted the intent in his   
gleaming eyes. "Ne, Mamoru…I…"  
  
He stopped, tilting his head. "Hai?"  
  
"I…"  
  
Mamoru grinned- that was the hesitation he had   
needed. Gently, he pressed his lips to hers…  
  
She smiled against his lips, reveling in her very first   
kiss. And when he pulled back, she blinked a few   
times, then found the words that she felt would best   
describe her feelings:  
  
"Magic, Mamoru…You're magic."  
  
He quirked his eyebrows at her, soft mouth arching   
upwards.   
  
"I feel magic whenever you're around, Usagi. You're   
the magic. And do you know what happens when two   
people make this kind of special magic together?"  
  
"What?" she questioned breathlessly.  
  
His eyes twinkled boyishly, happy she had fallen for   
the bait.  
  
"They live happily ever after."  
  
**  
  
*My poem.   
E-mail me.   
  
leluh16@yahoo.com 


End file.
